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Michael T. Barrett
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Sep
6
Did you see this bit of news this week?
The Obama administration on Tuesday will launch its most ambitious effort at reducing mortgage balances for homeowners who owe more than their homes are worth.
Officials say between 500,000 and 1.5 million so-called underwater loans could be modified through the program, the first initiative to target homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments but are at risk of default because they have no equity in their homes. Some experts are warning, however, that the same knots that tied up prior initiatives could do so again.
Yes, you read that correctly. More and more Americans who did not require (nor ask for) help from the federal government to lower their house payments are getting kicked to the curb, President Obama proposes yet another measure to help keep people who cannot afford their homes, in them.
So let’s see if I understand this correctly.
A family (like mine) who works hard, pays all their bills, applies for a refinance without government assistance, and does everything “right”, is served notice that the bank is calling the note and foreclosing on their home.
Yet, a broker helped some moron buy a house he couldn’t afford so the government takes steps (earlier this year) to “modify” that loan into a lower interest rate, and now, since the value of all homes are still falling, they are going to work with him to write off the amount he is underwater?
Now I know what I did wrong. I never begged the government to pay all my bills and to take care of me. That’s why we’re losing our house. It’s all so clear now.
Aug
22
After double checking our list of properties yesterday morning, we put a call into the real estate agent. Four of the properties were very attractive, within our price range, and very suitable to our plans for a small sustainable family farm.
We waited several hours but the agent never called us back, so we drove out to look at a few of them by ourselves. When we arrived at our “favorite” choice, we called the listed agent (whose sign was in the front yard) and asked if they could show us the property.
We spent quite a bit of time with the agent, who filled us in on just about every piece of information we may have ever wanted to know about the house and the land.
Although the house needs quite a bit of TLC, the property could work out very well for us in the long term. We decided to sleep on it.
This morning, we spoke with our real estate agent. We asked her to show us another property, and then told her we would like to see that other one again.
We met her at the first property at 2:30 today. We were not ready for what awaited us. In fact, this is the first property that all of us have liked unanimously. We were given a guided tour of the property by the owner, and there is no doubt that this is the perfect property for us.
Every other property we have seen could have been “made perfect”, but this one would be perfect from day one.
We are meeting with the real estate agent in the morning, and we will be making a formal offer for the property.
Eighteen days after finding out our world was crashing down around us, it seems we may have found a refuge in the storm. Say those prayers, because this could really be the one.
Aug
21
Last night was a rough night. As I mentioned before we had serious reservations about our “second choice” but this morning we knew, for sure, it was the right decision.
I did a couple online inquiries on the property owners, and let’s just say it’s probably a very good thing that we walked away from that one.
I made a few phone calls this afternoon about some additional properties, and I ended up speaking with a real estate agent who is local to our area. She had several ideas about properties that might be available with the type of offer we are in a position to make.
We drove from Roopville to Rome looking at properties this afternoon, and when we returned, I had three emails from the agent waiting for me with listings for us to consider.
We’ll be calling her in the morning to line up four of them, and we are quite optimistic about our chances now.
Thanks for the prayers, as we have no doubt that God had heard them and is guiding us down the correct path.
Aug
20
This afternoon we took another look at our “second choice” property.
Soon after we found the first house, we happened across the second one, and we thought it would be an awesome “alternative” at the time.
We spoke to the owner’s father, who had performed most of the renovation work on the house, and after a long discussion at the property we decided to pursue a deal.
Things looked bright. The property is over 13 acres in size, the old farmhouse is quaint, but could make an attractive home with a little TLC. At first we felt “sold” on the idea, but then we received the lease agreement and the purchase option paperwork.
While the lease agreement seemed to be a standard run of the mill type lease agreement (probably downloaded from some place online), and it seemed to lack any of the provisions we had discussed with the owner previously.
Throughout this evening, I have had a very uneasy feeling about this property, and after discussing it with the wife, we have decided to pass on this one.
It doesn’t make sense to put a lot of money down on a place that we have no purchase guarantee down the road. There were no provisions for us to “get out” of the deal if we found something wrong with the house, and there were so many restrictions in the lease agreement that I felt strangled sitting here 35 miles away from the property.
We have no doubt that God has a plan for us, and we have placed our faith in God that the will lead us in the right direction. Preferably soon!
Aug
19
We heard from the family regarding the offer to lease/purchase their home, but only 5 of the 7 siblings agreed to the offer. Because they were not unanimous, they chose not to accept it. We are back to square one.
We’ll be looking at our second choice tomorrow afternoon, so keep saying those prayers.
Happy thoughts.
Aug
18
It’s been a week since I had my eye appointment and six days since I started wearing bifocals. After the first three days which were filled with intense headaches, it seems the new glasses are actually doing better than my old ones. Three days headache free, it’s a start.
It’s going to take a while to get used to holding my head up rather than down to read something up close, but I am sure I will get used to it very soon.
We made an informal offer earlier this week and we are waiting, patiently, for an answer from the family about leasing the place. We should have good news by tomorrow night, so I am going to kick back tonight and watch some more News Radio on Netflix.
Aug
13
It’s hard to describe what I’ve been feeling for the past ten days.
Ever since I inadvertently discovered that the mortgage company was up to no good, I think I’ve been in a state of shock. August 26th will be the seventh anniversary since we signed the papers and got the keys to this house, and it still seems rather surreal that by August 26th we could very well be packing to move out.
Each day is different. I wake up refreshed (amazingly), but within moments of waking up my head begins to feel like I am swimming in a fog as I realize I have not been dreaming. My wife and I have been making numerous phone calls to family members, attorneys, and real estate agents.
Several family members have offered assistance, for which I am genuinely grateful for. The two attorneys I spoke with think we’ll have a good case to get some of our money back, but they both doubt that anything will occur to help us stay in the house. We’ve spoken to a few real estate agents as we attempt to find another home, even a temporary one, so we don’t have to worry about where we will be going. We need that security, if nothing else, for our kids.
As my day progresses I begin to get a headache from the weight of everything we’re enduring in this fiasco.
From the end of February until this past week, I heard nothing from our mortgage company. No letters, no phone calls, nothing. After my accidental discovery of their plan to take our home, I have received six letters. The first one was a regular letter demanding over $163,000. The second one was a registered version of the same letter. Letters three through six were two regular and two certified copies of the exact same letter. That’s right. So far, since my discovery I have received SIX copies of the same letter from the mortgage company telling me they want the full amount of the mortgage.
I think they’ve made their position very clear.
As the sun sets each day my headaches subside, mostly due to the different medications I take to keep them at bay, and I seem to relax a bit. I think it has more to do with mental exhaustion more than anything, but at least I am still sleeping good at night.
Then again, why shouldn’t I be? It’s not like I work for a big box mortgage company that plans and plots to steal homes from innocent homeowners across our great nation. I wonder how many other people are losing their homes because the executives at their mortgage company would rather take advantage of government insurance and bailout options than maintain their investment in the American dream?
As far as our situation is concerned, they may knock us down, but our faith in God will keep us strong, and my family will rise above this and find ourselves on the winning end when all is said and done.
Aug
11
Things are a bit hectic around here.
We finally heard from the mortgage company about re-instatement of our “non-existent” loan. We’ve contacted an attorney to aid us in this process, but it doesn’t look like anything is going to happen quick enough to keep us in the house. Evaluating and choosing an attorney for your needs and learning about your legal issues can be overwhelming, but Attorneys.com from LexisNexis has great resources to help you.
The letter from the attorney for the mortgage company states the amount required to re-instate the loan, but with a big disclaimer at the bottom that reads, “The above figures were provided by our client and are subject to final verification. Our client reserves the right to collect additional amounts necessary to complete the reinstatement.”
The right to collect additional amounts necessary to complete the reinstatement? Excuse me? What do we do if we bust our butts to get the amount they say we need, only to find they want even more? No thanks.
We hear on the news everyday about people walking away from their homes. What about those who are being kicked to the curb because of paperwork glitches like this?
We’re taking a few days to weigh our options. The only thing we know for sure, is that we probably won’t be living here much longer.
Aug
7
After a very long day on the road, we finally made it home around 10:30 tonight.
No word yet about the “re-instatement fee” for our “non-existent loan”, but we did receive a letter informing us that they are indeed foreclosing. They toss an amount around in the letter that’s more than our original loan on the house, so I’m sure this is just their way of calling the note.
I’ll be posting photos from the birding trip on Monday, because I’m going to take tonight and tomorrow for some much needed downtime.
Aug
6
We waited patiently… All day… We received no word about the situation with our “non-existent” mortgage.
Honestly, I have a feeling they are scrambling to make their next move. If I hadn’t attempted to confirm receipt of my last payment, I still wouldn’t have a clue what was happening.
Maybe we’ll receive word tomorrow. Then again, we’re going birding again, so we may not know what they have to say until very late tomorrow night.
I hate waiting…